| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
CCTV Challenge Fund
Mr. Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much each London borough received in rounds one and two of the Home Office CCTV Challenge Fund allocations. [158784]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We are now running a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Initiative, which replaced the earlier CCTV Challenge Fund. In round one of that initiative a total of £17.4 million was awarded to 52 schemes submitted by London boroughs. The shortlist of bids recently announced under round two of the CCTV Initiative includes 30 schemes from London boroughs, with a potential capital value of £19.1 million.
A list of these schemes in London boroughs awarded funding under round one of the CCTV Initiative, and those that have been invited to the final stage of round two of the CCTV Initiative, has been placed in the Library.
Police Defence Equipment
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what trials are being undertaken of (a) the advanced taser M26, (b) the laser dazzler, (c) the bean bag and (d) pepper spray; what the specifications are for each test; what police forces or other bodies have been approached or agreed to conduct further trials; what his estimate is of the cost of each trial programme; and what social impact assessment he will commission for each weapon. [158789]
Mr. Charles Clarke: A wide range of technologies which could be used by the police for self-protection and the maintenance of law and order is currently being considered by the Home Office Police Scientific
30 Apr 2001 : Column: 534W
Development Branch (PSDB), including the advanced air taser, laser dazzler and bean bag. This programme of work responds to an operational requirement set by the Association of Chief Police Officers. A preliminary review of the available equipment has recently been published by the Northern Ireland Office in relation to the Patten Report recommendations on seeking potentially less lethal alternatives to Plastic Baton Rounds. The fact that items are being studied does not of course mean that they will necessarily come into police use.
Pepper spray has been discounted for use in the United Kingdom, but Sussex police are trialling a synthetic version of the spray, PAVA, in one of their Divisions.
That total cost of the work being carried out for the Home Office at PSDB is £402,000. Formal social impact assessments are not carried out as part of this programme, but all relevant factors would be considered before any decision to recommend police use of any of the equipment in question.
Circus Animals
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the (a) persons and (b) organisations his Department has consulted in preparing guidelines relating to the use of animals in circuses; [159592]
- (2) what plans he has to issue official guidelines on the use of animals in circuses. [159602]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Association of Circus Proprietors has produced a Code of Practice on standards for the care and welfare of circus animals on tour. Copies of the Code of Practice will be made available to local authorities and circuses as well as other interested parties.
I understand the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the British Veterinary Zoological Society, the Zoological Society of London and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare were all consulted on the content of the Code of Practice. Home Office officials provided some advice and assistance to the Association in the preparation of its Code but it remains the Code of the Association. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other organisations will be meeting me shortly to discuss it.
Human Rights Commission
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to establish a human rights commission for England and Wales. [159279]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We have no present plans to establish a Human Rights Commission for England and Wales. The Joint Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights is currently scoping a study into the possibility of a Human Rights Commission, and we will be interested to see its conclusions.
Police (Cambridgeshire)
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were in post per 1,000 head of population in the county of Cambridgeshire on 1 January in each year between 1996 and 2001. [159521]
30 Apr 2001 : Column: 535W
Mr. Charles Clarke: The information is set out in the table. Police numbers are collected twice a year on 31 March and 30 September. The information in the table is therefore based on police numbers for 31 March of each year, except for 2001 where the special collection of police numbers for 31 January has been used.
| Year | Police numbers | Population (mid June of preceding year) | Police officers per 1,000 population(28) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 1996 | 1,238 | 693,871 | 1.78 |
| 31 March 1997 | 1,302 | 703,251 | 1.85 |
| 31 March 1998 | 1,291 | 712,240 | 1.81 |
| 31 March 1999 | 1,274 | 719,767 | 1.77 |
| 31 March 2000 | 1,237 | 724,897 | 1.71 |
| 31 January 2001 | 1,309 | (29)724,897 | (29)1.81 |
(28) Calculated on the basis of population figures, for June of the preceding year, provided by the Office for National Statistics.
(29) June 2000 population figures are not yet available. June 1999 population data have been used.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total gross running cost to his Department was for travel, including fares, subsistence, accommodation and other expenses met from public funds for visits exclusively within the United Kingdom by (a) him and (b) Ministers, in the 12 months ending 30 April 1997. [157621]
Mr. Straw: Departmental records available for the 12 months to 30 April 1997 show the following costs:
- (a) Visits by the Home Secretary--£16,866.65
- (b) Visits by other Home Office Ministers--£38,035.75.
These figures include where relevant the costs of an accompanying Private Secretary.
Departmental Entertaining
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total gross running costs to his Department were in the 12 months ending 30 April 1997 of entertaining by (a) Ministers and (b) officials. [157619]
Mr. Straw: The total gross running cost to my Department in the 12 months ending 30 April 1997 of entertaining by Ministers was £14,793 and by officials was £27,036.
In my reply of 27 February 2001, Official Report, column 603W, I reported that the provisional gross running cost to my Department in the 12 months to 31 January 2001 of entertaining by officials was £160,095. It has since been found that a sum of £131,064 relating to the costs of conferences had been incorrectly classified in the accounting system as entertaining costs. Provisional expenditure on entertaining by officials in the 12 months to 31 January 2001 was £29,031.
30 Apr 2001 : Column: 536W
Crime Rates (Chichester)
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is provided on the knowledge network on the level of (a) recorded crime, (b) violent crime and (c) police manpower in the Chichester constituency; and what comparable statistics are available for 1997. [159265]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 27 April 2001]: Details of crime and police manpower are not collected centrally at constituency level, and so are not available for inclusion on the knowledge network.
The most recent details of recorded crime in the Chichester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, for selected offences, are available in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 1/01, "Recorded Crime: England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000", which is available in the Library. Equivalent figures for 1997 are not available centrally.
Metropolitan Police
Ms Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) serving officers of and (b) recruits to the Metropolitan police in 2000-01 reside in Hertfordshire. [159535]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I am told by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that this information is not held centrally.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 7 March, regarding a constituent: Ref. 6492/1. [159233]
Mrs. Roche: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 30 April 2001.
Disorder
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets he has set for the reduction of incidents of disorder. [159021]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 26 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 26 April 2001, Official Report, column 391W. The target is that there should be a reduction in disorder; we expect to have sufficient data to produce a baseline this autumn and work on quantifying the target will follow.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |